When the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently allowed over the counter distribution of hormonal birth control, mainstream media outlets like the New York Times glossed over concerns, painting all apprehension as religious in nature. However, while some certainly have religious objections to this decision, for many on both sides of the aisle — including former President Barack Obama — it is health and safety concerns that make us shake our heads over the FDA’s recklessness.  

Students for Life of America (SFLA) President Kristan Hawkins and SFLA Executive Vice President Tina Whittington recently published an op-ed on this topic at The Daily Caller entitled “Biden’s FDA Has Gone Where Obama Would Not. Young Women Will Pay the Price.” The authors discuss the many different reasons making hormonal birth control so easily available is an issue — starting with the fact that it is an abortifacient despite the abortion industry’s claims otherwise.

On the deceptive marketing of “the Pill,” Hawkins and Whittington write: 

“From its founding, Planned Parenthood sought an easily distributed product to prevent pregnancy, the “brainchild” of discredited racist and Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger, who was very direct about wanting to prevent “human weeds.” The New York Times notes that one of The Pill’s creators, Harvard fertility expert Dr. John Rock, a self-proclaimed Catholic, “was stretching the truth” about how the pill functioned, reporting, “Rock knew that the pill’s synthetic hormones caused the lining of a woman’s uterus to thin out, making it inhospitable for a fertilized egg.” 

“Let’s be clear: A “fertilized egg” is a unique life with a distinct genetic code, a human zygote, only different from us in size and location. The New York Times and other influencers refer to the newest of humans as such to dehumanize and confuse young women on the potentially abortifacient side effects of hormonal birth control drugs and devices.” 

Beyond the potential to kill a newly conceived child, the authors note the extreme health risks women are exposed to — and ill-informed on — when taking the Pill. When talking to students on campus, they assert this is their least controversial topic as you don’t have to be pro-life to know this drug has serious side effects. These include depression, breast cancer, heart attacks, strokes, blood clots, liver tumors, and even death. 

As mothers, Hawkins and Whittington also agree with Obama’s concerns that sexual abusers could misuse these drugs in exploitation of young girls — and add health concerns over sexually transmitted diseases to the list, as well. They write: 

“With one in five Americans infected with a sexually transmitted disease, at the very least a conversation is needed with young people about other risks of sex and about the dangers of not reading and following directions. The Pill doesn’t protect from a broken heart, an incurable disease, or sexual abusers who can now get The Pill at any drug store, without even showing identification as required to buy Sudafed.”  

Click HERE to read Hawkins and Whittington’s op-ed in its entirety at The Daily Caller.  

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